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Fri, 09 Dec 2016 19:11:49 +0100MYOBen-gbSamsung and TSMC slug it out over new processeshttp://www.fudzilla.com/news/processors/39733-samsung-and-tsmc-slug-it-out-over-new-processes
http://www.fudzilla.com/news/processors/39733-samsung-and-tsmc-slug-it-out-over-new-processes

Begun the Gen.3.14 FinFet wars have

Samsung and TSMC are starting to slug it out introducing Gen.3 14 and 16-nano FinFET system semiconductor processes, but the cost could mean that smartphone makers shy away from the technology in the short term.

It is starting to look sales teams for the pair are each trying to show that they can use the technology to reduce the most electricity consumption and production costs.

In its yearly result for 2015, TSMC made an announcement that it is planning to enter mass-production system of chips produced by 16-nano FinFET Compact (FFC) process sometime during 1st quarter of this year. TSMC had finished developing 16-nano FFC process at the end of last year. During the announcement TSMC talked up the fact that its 16-nano FFC process focuses on reducing production cost more than before and implementing low electricity.

TSMC is apparently ready for mass-production of 16-nano FFC process sometime during 1st half of this year and secured Huawei’s affiliate called HiSilicon as its first customer.

HiSilicon’s Kirin 950 that is used for Huawei’s premium Smartphone called Mate 8 is produced by TSMC’s 16-nano FF process. Its A9 Chip, which is used for Apple’s iPhone 6S series, is mass-produced using the 16-nano FinFET Plus (FF+) process that was announced in early 2015. By adding FFC process, TSMC now has three 16-nano processors in action.

Samsung is not far behind it has mass-produced Gen.2 14-nano FinFET using a process called LPP (Low Power Plus) as we wrote on Wednesday. This has 15 per cent lower electricity consumption compared to Gen.1 14-nano process called LPE (Low Power Early).

Samsung Electronics’ 14-nano LPP process was seen in the Exynos 8 OCTA series that is used for Galaxy S7 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820. But Samsung Electronics is also preparing for Gen.3 14-nano FinFET process.

Vice-President Bae Young-chang of Samsung’s LSI Business Department’s Strategy Marketing Team said it will use a process similar to the Gen.2 14-nano process.

Both Samsung and TSMC might have a few problems. It is not clear what the yields of these processes are and this might increase the production costs.

Even if Samsung Electronics and TSMC finish developing 10-nano process at the end of this year and enter mass-production system next year, but they will also have to upgrade their current 14 and 16-nano processes to make them more economic.

Even if 10-nano process is commercialised, there still will be many fabless businesses that will use 14 and 16-nano processes because they are cheaper. While we might see a few flagship phones using the higher priced chips, it might be that we will not see 10nm in the majority of phones for years.

The takeover of the chipmaker Micron by a Chinese government controlled outfit is going to be extremely tricky, warned analysts.

Analysts think that Tsinghua Unigroup proposed price, $23 billion, is far too low anyway, but if the fact it has to be vetted by an increasing paranoid US government could sink the deal.

Jim Lewis of the think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies told Reuters that the deal will only go ahead if the powers that be think that what Micron makes isn't important any more. That might be tricky with modern weapons' enormous dependence on computer chips.

Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright declined comment on the expected bid or how prevalent the company's chips were in US weapons systems.

Buying Micron would give China access to both DRAM and NAND memory chips but analysts said the $23 billion planned offer price far undervalues the plants, employees and intellectual property of Micron.

Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy said the price was floated publically because the Chinese were too embarrassed to bring it to Micron's board.J.P. Morgan analysts said a $27 to $29 per share offer would be more realistic.

CFIUS, an inter-agency which reviews mergers to ensure they do not compromise national security, required Chinese networking company Huawei Technologies Co to divest 3Leaf Systems in 2011 and blocked its purchase of 3Com Corp stock in 2008 because of concerns about links between Huawei's founder and China's military.

But CFIUS does approve some tech deals. In 2014, China's Lenovo Group won CFIUS approval to buy IBM's low-end server business.

Two other experts with CFIUS experience said they would not write off the deal as dead. CFIUS, they said, would assess Tsinghua's ties to the government and Micron's role in national security to decide if the task force, which is led by the Treasury Department, would allow it to go forward.

The Pentagon may opt to order its supplier to refrain from using Micron chips.

Micron competes intensely with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Toshiba selling memory chips, and there is very little that it sells that its competitors do not.

UMC is considering a plan to speed up a shift to the 18nm process at its fabs in Taiwan.

The cunning plan will mean that its subsidiary in China, United Semi, can then move to 28nm to meet the ever-rising demand for the 28nm products in the country.

UMC is currently competing with SMIC in the 40nm-process segment and the competition will soon move forward to 28nm.

United Semi, has begun construction of its 12-inch fab, which is scheduled to enter trial production at the end of 2016 and begin mass production in 2017.

The 12-inch fab in China will be confined to producing chips using 55nm and 40nm processes which is a generation behind UMC's prevailing advanced 28nm process.

To waive off the investment restriction in China, UMC has to improve its manufacturing process into more advanced 18nm, 16nm or 14nm processes so that it can sell the older tech across the China Sea.

Moving to 18nm is quicker than developing its 14nm FinFET process.

The 18nm process thus looks like a feasible and less expensive alternative for UMC to migrating into more advanced process while producing 28nm chips in China ahead of SMIC or other China-based counterparts.

Chipzilla has been making mutterings about its much neglected Itanium product, which seem to indicate that it will be downgraded to an elderly process

The last processor released was Poulson that was pretty advanced for its time, but is now getting so old that parts of the chip are haunted.

The Itanium 9500 series processors were designed for scalability in mind and targeted at the HPC market and Intel has been pretty quiet about a replacement.

KitGuru cornered an Intel suit and asked them if they were planning to can it completely, but the suit denied it.

"Intel remains committed to the Intel Itanium product line and to the delivery of the next-generation Intel Itanium processor, code named 'Kittson'. [It] will be manufactured on Intel's 32nm process technology and will be socket compatible with the existing Itanium 9300/9500 platforms, providing customers with performance improvements, investment protection, and a seamless upgrade path for existing systems," the spokesman said.

Hang on a minute. Kittson was originally supposed to be on the 22nm process, so the downgrade to 32nm is a bit of a shock.The only one still trying to flog the Itanium ecosystem is HP. However, HP is in process of transitioning to the x86-64 ecosystem as well, and once it does that, there will be virtually no demand.

Intel has also made it very clear that they have not announced any product after Kittson – which means Kittson will be the end of that branch of the evolutionary tree.

It is sad really IA64 was interesting and had some legs for businesses taking them away from x86 land. It just seems that it was a Betamax.

The reference flow enables Intel Custom Foundry customers to re-characterize the logic libraries for custom process, voltage or temperature corners or to characterise custom cells following a similar characterisation methodology.

Chipzilla's 14nm platform is the second generation to use 3D Tri-gate transistors that enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing an unprecedented combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous state-of-the-art transistors.

"Intel Custom Foundry's 14nm characterization reference flow includes best characterization practices jointly developed by Intel Custom Foundry and Cadence and can accelerate the ramp-up time for customers who need to re-characterize libraries," he said.

The process of getting your data over to the Wii U from your Wii is a bit complex. The process does require your old Wii console, and you have to download the Wii to Wii U transfer application. You will also need an SD card with at least 512MB free, but we recommend more.

The process requires that you insert the card into the Wii U first and select the system transfer option, and then the card is moved to the Wii where you have to then download the transfer application from the Wii Shop. The Application moves the data to the SD card; and then once completed, you place the card into the Wii U and the data is moved to the new Wii U console.

For it to work, both the Wii and Wii U need to be connected to the Internet, and that is so you can download the application the verification can take place. The data that can be moved includes WiiWare, Virtual Console titles, save data for games, DLC content, Wii Points, and, of course, your Miis.

Once the transfer is completed, all of the data is wiped on the Wii console and the SD card is erased, so you have to hope you get it right. Seems like a lot of hassle, but if you are going to move to the new console, this is the only way that you are going to get there if you want to take your data with you.

Chip designer ARM and Globalfoundries have inked a multi-year contract ensuring that ARM’s next gen SoCs will be made in Globalfoundries’ 20nm and upcoming 14nm processes that will use FinFET transistors..

20nm test samples are already in Globalfoundries’ fab in Malta, New York. The deal aims to provide customers with 20nm designs and promote migration to three-dimensional FinFET transistor tech at 14nm and beyond.

Under the deal, ARM will develop its Artisan physical IP platform, together with standard cell libraries, memory compilers and POP (processor optimization package) IP solutions. The contract will also include Mali graphics processors.

Globalfoundries is to develop optimized implementations and benchmarks for ARM’s next-gen Cortex processors and Mali graphics processors. It will build on the existing Artisan physical IP platforms for existing processes.

Globalfoundries’ 20nm-LPM technology should bring up to 40 percent performance increase and double the gate density of 28nm. Additionally, the collaboration will include Globalfoundries’ FinFET based technology that will provide a rapid migration path from 20nm-LPM, thanks to the companies’ efforts in optimization of physical IP and process technologies.

Globalfoundries’ executive VP at worldwide marketing and sales Mike Noonen said:”By leveraging our implementation knowledge and applying it to a next-generation, energy-efficient ARM processor and graphics processing unit, we believe we can jointly offer a compelling differentiation to our mutual customers that will power innovation into the next two generations”. ARM’s executive VP and general manager of processor and physical IP divisions Simon Segars said:”By proactively working together to enable next-generation 20nm-LPM and FinFET process technologies, our mutual customers can be assured a range of implementation options that will enable two more generations of advanced semiconductor devices."

Microsoft has announced its Xbox Summer Stadium promotion that will be running from June 15th to August 12th. The 8-week program will offer a calendar of sports entertainment and gaming events, as well as a season-long tournament with weekly challenges. Of course, Microsoft will be giving away a lot of prizes and will also be attempting to break a Guinness World Record during the promotion.

By playing selected sports games on your Xbox you can train for complete challenges through playing selected titles. Players that participate will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win 4,000 Microsoft points. Games include Forza Motorsport 4, Kinect Sports Season 2, Dance Central 2, and FIFA 12.

Microsoft will be trying to get into the Guinness World Record books again on June 16th at 6PM BST when players have the chance to join thousands of other runners by taking on the 100 meter sprint from Kinect Sports Season 1. The company is trying to create a record with the most engaged in the Kinect 100 meter sprint at one time.

Microsoft will be working with partners to provide streaming sports entertainment for you to watch during the promotion. Of course, you must have an Xbox Live Gold Membership in order to be watching this sports entertainment.

The only down side about this promotion is that (at least for the time being) it appears to be only for those Xbox 360 players in the U.K. so far.

Intel’s chief executive Paul Otellini shed some light on Chipzilla’s plans and confirmed that the company already has 7nm and 5nm processes in mind.

Intel is currently planning on setting up its fabs in Oregon, Arizona and Ireland for 14 nm production. According to a slide shown in a meeting with investors, this would ensure development of the 14nm process by 2015.

Otellini reminded that Intel’s R&D is quite deep and looks decades in advance. He said that the company’s 7nm and 5nm efforts are “on time and on target”, although we’re still talking about R&D phase.

Ivy Bridge will once again set Intel graphics standards at much higher level, but this does not mean that Intel is going to win the performance crown without a fight. Intel still competes with Nvidia and AMD with entry level GPUs that still have ability to beat Intel's on CPU graphics.

Nvidia's mobile and notebook boss, Rene Haas, has confirmed that despite the fact that Ivy Bridge gets better graphics, Nvidia is preparing something even better. He said that in current generation, Nvidia ended up some 20 to 30 percent faster than Sandy Bridge graphics, and that this trend will continue in the future.

You can expect that next generation graphics core for notebooks from Nvidia ends up at least 20 to 30 percent faster from Ivy Bridge, and in some cases much more / much less. Nvidia also reminded us that over time Intel gets quite good in optimizing its graphics for benchmarks, which is quite an interesting remark from a company that just got a saucy settlement and money from mighty Intel.

Ivy Bridge is expected to show up in March and April depending on the version while we expect to see Nvidia'a new notebook chips before then.